Apr182010
Preview: Finding Work/Life Balance
Filed under Uncategorized, breakout sessions by admin at 12:05 pm on Apr 18 2010
TWT writer Jaclyn Stevenson interviewed conference presenter Christine Henriques Mark about how she balances her roles as entrepreneur, mother, designer, landlord…
When trying to get a better grasp on how she manages her time, Christine Henriques Mark says an exercise that works for her is making a list of every role she plays in life.
“It can be scary when that list starts to get long,” Mark says. “In writing down all of my titles—mother, business owner, designer, daughter, friend, landlord—I can easily define14 different roles. That’s a lot to care about. But on paper, a list like that helps me see where my priorities are, and where they should be.”
This exercise and others also help Mark navigate a busy life that includes a young family and co-ownership of Northampton-based Gravity Switch, a Web design and development firm. The only constant is change, she says, and taking the time for intermittent checks and balances helps maintain a sense of order.
“I like to have a full schedule; that’s how I perform best,” Mark says. “But it’s helpful to understand what’s on my plate and what’s realistic… In a sense, I feel as though I need to act as the steward of my own life.”
That stewardship, Mark says, also translates into taking care of the body, mind, and soul that ultimately get all of the jobs done. “Some of it is simple stuff—remembering to take care of yourself by eating well, getting rest, and exercising. I really think that doing things that are healthy can translate to success in many areas of your life; plus, sickness is just one of the things that will definitely throw you off a schedule.”
Mark adds that healthy living also helps her reduce stress. That in turn helps her clarify her needs, wants, and goals, as well as what she can handle in a given week and what tasks may need to wait. “I start by asking myself what I need to do to create a good momentum and swing in my day. There are so many demands on our time put upon us, or that we put on ourselves, that saying ‘no’ is sometimes painful. But narrowing my focus and culling my to-do list helps me do the things that are important well.”
When in doubt, Mark reaches for pen and paper to draft a new list of her roles in life, and reflect on what it says about her as a whole person. And, she says the practice has taught her one more lesson – especially in those times when that when the list starts to get long.
“No matter what it says, that piece of paper is still smaller than you are,” she says. “You’re bigger than that.”
Christine Henriques Mark will is a panelist in Breakout Session B: Work, Education, and Family Balance along with Sarah Perez-McAdoo, MD, Martha LaCroix, Anne Caruso and Jessica Fraga.
